Supreme Court Justice Kagan warns against court involvement in politics at Salve talk

NEWPORT — Salve Regina kicked off its 75th anniversary celebration with a big name guest, with hundreds of students, faculty, staff and guests gathering on the lawn of Gerety Hall to hear Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan discuss her career, her time on the court and her thoughts about the future of American democracy. The former dean of Harvard Law School and the first female solicitor general in the history of the United States, Kagan has held her seat on the highest court in the country since 2010.

The well-attended “fireside chat” with Jim Ludes, Salve Regina’s vice president for strategic initiatives, might have been the first time a sitting justice has visited Newport’s local university, but it was Kagan's second time visiting the City-by-the-Sea – she was invited to Touro Synagogue’s 250th anniversary in 2013, when she served as the keynote speaker at the 66th reading of George Washington’s 1790 letter to the Jewish population of Newport guaranteeing religious freedom to all in the new country.

Kagan mentioned she has been in dissent on a number of the court’s cases involving voting rights and gerrymandering, criticizing the court’s recent decisions on these issues and calling it the principal task of the judges “to protect equal citizenship – to ensure that every citizen is equal to every other when it comes to participating in the political process…to protect the right to vote particularly – so that’s the 14th and 15th amendments.”

She drew spontaneous applause from the audience when she said the court “should think twice and then think twice again” before weighing in on legislation.

“The court shouldn’t be wandering around just inserting itself into every hot-button issue in America, and it especially shouldn’t be doing that in a way that reflects one ideology or one set of political view over another,” Kagan said.

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She also discussed her judicial heroes (Thurgood Marshall and Louis Brandeis), her philosophy about legal topics including judicial review, stare decisis, and the difference between law and policy, and the importance of maintaining social and collegial relationships despite disagreements about politics – as an example, she revealed that she and the late conservative justice Antonin Scalia were “hunting buddies,” a fact which was surprising enough to get a good laugh from the crowd.

“I think it should almost go without saying,” said Kagan, “that people who disagree with each other can be friends, and we’re reaching a bad state to the extent that is not true.”

As the crowd burst into applause, she quipped, “The fact that that statement seems controversial enough that people applaud it is a really bad sign, but I understand why.”

“I was deeply interested in hearing about how the court works and some strategies for how people with such disparate opinions…can work together to overcome some of these things, like she was discussing a little bit how we can overcome some of the conflict and divide we have in this country," Heather Axen, an associate professor in the biology department, said. "But also, (I came) to hear about somebody who is inspirational as a woman who has been through a lot and should be looked up to.”

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Aida Neary, the director of community educational partnerships at Salve, said she was drawn to the event because, “I am a political junkie, in general. So to have the opportunity to hear a Supreme Court Justice on our campus? I’m not passing that up.”

“I liked knowing how the court works,” continued Neary. “We read the opinions and we envision what the people on the court are like; to actually see a woman sit there – she spoke, she was very eloquent and she obviously knows the law, but she was funny and very human and she talked about empathy, which really ties into our mission and what we do here…it was a wonderful experience.”

Spencer O’Reilly, a sophomore political science major, said it's important for students to take advantage of opportunities such as having a Supreme Court justice on campus to better understand the effect it will have on their lives.

“This is the highest profile speaker Salve has had come to campus recently," O’Reilly said. "I believe for students its important to come to an event like this because ultimately the supreme court is making the decision that are going to affect you in your everyday life…the most interesting question I heard was about the political polarization of the court, and what her opinion was on it.”

This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan discusses concerns at Salve event